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Special: War against the novel coronavirus
China’s aviation regulator has decided to relax rules banning overseas flights due to Covid-19, which many believe will encourage inbound flights.
Starting Sunday, any flight with five people infected with Covid-19 will be suspended for one week, with confirmed cases accounting for four percent of those on board and confirmed cases accounting for eight percent, for two weeks, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CACAC) said on Sunday.
The regulation does not specify policy settings for flights with less than five confirmed cases.
“The move aims to promote China-foreign travel exchanges and do a better job of scientifically and accurately preventing and controlling epidemics,” CAAC said.
CAAC said relevant policies will be adjusted in time based on epidemic prevention requirements.
More than five but not less than 10 flights that have previously been confirmed with Covid-19 have been suspended for two weeks. For flights with 10 passengers infected with Covid-19, airlines will have to suspend operations for four weeks under the rules from May 1, 2021.
Market watchers said entry requirements are set to be loosened.
For example, the Boeing 777, which can carry 305 to 440 people, is allowed to carry 228 to 330 passengers at 75 percent of the capacity requirement set by the CAAC, and the number of people infected with the virus is 4 percent of those on board. Wang Yi, head of air ticket information at supplier Variflight, told the Global Times on Sunday.
Wang said, “In the past, the rule was that when the number of confirmed cases reached five, it was important, but not now.”
The new rules halve the ban period, which should help international flights to China, especially long-haul transcontinental flights from Europe and the US with wide-body aircraft, said Lin Zhiyi, an independent market watcher. Sunday Global Times.
According to VariFlight data, the average usage rate for widebody aircraft in July this year was 1.16 hours per day, compared to 10-11 hours in 2019.
In the year In 2020, China adopted the “Five One” policy to curb imports, which allowed Chinese carriers to operate only one overseas flight per week to any country and foreign airlines to operate one flight to China per week.
CAAC official Kong Fanwei said in a press conference on May 23 this year that the country has suspended 768 international flights so far to prevent the spread of the virus.
But the policy has gradually been adjusted and the regulator has now allowed many airlines to resume domestic and international flights.
CAAC said in June that it is negotiating with some countries to gradually increase regular international passenger flights to meet the needs of personnel exchanges.
In July, CAAC officials said that China would increase the number of international flights in the second half of this year to increase its relations with countries.
Meanwhile, the country has reduced the common quarantine period for international arrivals from the previous 14 days to seven days, creating a new impetus for the foreign travel market.
International passenger flights from China will increase by more than 200 percent month-on-month in August, according to Variflight data, and flights to the United States will also quadruple.
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